pierce didn't just use a pencil and paper to write out his requests? >> reporter: there's two answers to the question. first of all, inmates don't often have access to pens and pencils because they can be used as weapons. secondly, according to his attorney, sign language is his primary language, and in his past, when he was a child, he didn't learn to read and write terribly well. and they want him to be able to communicate in his primary language, his hands, sign language. that's their answer. >> john, thank you. >>> the issue of immigration taking a front seat in washington. senators continued to work on new legislation and the president's unveiled his new plan this week in las vegas. peter ducey has more. >> reporter: the bipartisan group of senators that's working together to write a comprehensive immigration reform bill says they hope to have the details hammered out by next month, in march. but president obama is now saying if they can't figure output the legislative language on their own, he'll go ahead and send his own immigration bill up the